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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #23: Once Upon A Time Chocolate Red (France)
Every Wine Person (every Wine Person that I respect, anyway) has the same motto: Drink what you like. It’s true that learning is useful and exploring is enlightening. Wine tastes often drift over time, and they tend to evolve in a predictable way–often away from sweetness and toward nuance and complexity. But it’s dumb and…
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Merlot Thursday: No. 3 d’Angelus Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2020)
Hark how the bells! Sweet silver bells! All seem to say, “Throw cares away! “It’s Merlot day!” (Okay–so I made up that last part.) It’s not only the freaking “Carol of the Bells” that’s living rent-free in my head today, but the famous bells of Château Angelus. Located in a natural amphitheater, the Château’s vineyards…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #22: Maison du Lac Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc (France)
If you’ve been following along on our journey through all 24 of the Costco advent calendar wines, then you know it’s been a bumpy ride. There is a lot of variation in quality and style this year. The Wine Fairy tasting team (me and my wife, Sarah) are using a very informal (non-blind, non-mathematical, go-with-your-gut)…
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Review: Borsao “Tres Picos” Campo de Borja Garnacha (2021)
A big old juicy Garnacha is on the menu tonight: The Tres Picos Garnacha from Bodegas Borsao. Borsao is a large co-op in Campo de Borja DO, a landscape of arid hills and plateaus nicknamed “the Empire of Garnacha.” Over 700 small grower families have united to produce these wines, which are known for their…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #21: Brillo Solar Garnacha (Spain)
Known for bold red fruit flavors with a hint of spice, Garnacha (also called Grenache) is a workhorse of the wine world. The French claim it, but it probably originated in Spain’s Aragon region before spreading across the Mediterranean. Garnacha is a hardy, high-yielding vine–one that can be counted on to produce good-to-great wines even…
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The wino’s guide to Princess Cruises
The thought of being stranded at sea for seven or more days–away from your cellar and favorite decanter, at the mercy of a dismal list of house wines–strikes fear into the heart of any wine enthusiast. But don’t worry! With the help of this guide, you will be able to navigate through an ocean of…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #19: Mendoza Nights Malbec (Argentina)
Wine critics and wine judges have devised some entertaining shorthand terms for awful wine. Scrawled in the margins of a notebook or whispered under your breath to a colleague, they allow a taster to diss a wine without offending the pourer. Good ones that I’ve heard recently include FJ (“Fruit Juice”), TD (“Termite’s Dream”–meaning that…
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Local wines by the Bay at Winery Collective (San Francisco, CA)
Fisherman’s Wharf in December is not a bustling place. The cruise ships have mostly left for the season and the sidewalks are nearly empty. It’s too chilly and gray to catch any California sunshine on the waterfront. The Ghirardelli Chocolate building shines on the top of the hill, its marble counters spotless, its sundae glasses…
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Review: Borrasca Brut Cava (NV)
Sometimes I think I could mark the eras of my life by what inexpensive Cava I was buying at the time. Me and Cava go way back, each decade associated with a different label. Segura Viudas from the corner store, bought by a friend with a borrowed ID. Next, the “black bottle bubbly”–that would be…
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Merlot Thursday: Château Chapelle d’Aliénor Bordeaux Supérieur (2019)
A modest Bordeaux with friends in high places is this week’s #MerlotThursday pick. The wine is Château Chapelle d’Aliénor, which casually name-drops Château La Gaffelière on its crested label. The producer is Domaines Comte de Malet Roquefort, whose holdings include La Gaffelière (a Premier Grand Cru Classé estate) and four other nearby vineyards. The Malet…
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Whoa! I’m a 2026 Wine Writers’ Symposium Fellow
Great news! I’m delighted to share that I (Michelle Gruben of The Wine Fairy) have been selected as a Fellow of the 2026 Wine Writers’ Symposium. It’s a huge honor, and I’m blissfully excited. This coming February, I will be joining some of the best writers in the biz for several days of mentorship and…
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Local Sips: Times Ten Cellars (Dallas, TX)
A leisurely wine tasting sounded like the perfect way to end a hectic holiday weekend. Feeling curious and thirsty, I made my way to Times Ten Cellars, an urban winery in East Dallas’s historic Lakewood neighborhood. Open since 2005, Times Ten is well-known locally as a bookable venue for wedding dinners and private receptions. But…